This invention is a cylindrical deaerator for removing the air from an air/oil mixture and, more particularly, the invention is concerned with providing a cylindrical deaerator wherein the air/oil mixture is caused to enter the cylinder at a downward angle through a flattened entry tube and the deaerated oil exits through a louvered bottom which prevents the formation of vortices.
The cylindrical deaerator depends primarily on the centrifugal force of swirling air/oil mixture to free the air bubbles from the oil. In this type of deaerator the flow is generally directed toward the tank outlet inducing the formation of vortices with the resultant possibility of interruption of the steady flow of deaerated oil which is necessary for the proper functioning of an aircraft engine, for example. Also, the entry flow into presently known cylindrical deaerators is usually from a pipe of circular cross-section which is supplied by an entrance tube which does not have any holes in the wall thereof. The oil exits from the bottom of the cylinder through ordinary openings usually causing the formation of vortices.
In the hereinafter disclosed cylindrical deaerator, the above-mentioned drawbacks are eliminated by providing an inclined and flattened entry flow and a louvered or slotted oil exit. Also, a special bottom reduces the possibility of vortex while an entrance tube with holes allows much of the air to escape prior to entering the deaerator.